Trading Options

We have developed several Trading Systems to analyze some of our internal strategies. They are mostly Equity releated. We have a few Future strategies where we use continuous contracts, so they work just like our Equity strategies.

What we want to try now is an Options strategy.

Basically we want to have a Tracking Index that we base our orders on, but trade Options when we get our signals. Are there any good samples of this type of strategy?

Since the options contracts trade and expire over time, we want to be selective about the ones we purchase.

In our current "Tracking Index" related strategies, we select the Tracking Index as well as the "Other Symbols" we want to trade.

In order to do the same with Options, do I have to have an instrument for every option contract over the entire time frame we analyze the Tracking Index?

Something we should consider is the economic calendar because this alters any strategy we use in Tracking Index, I have had to learn that our strategy can come down if a fundamental news that affects us.